Friday, January 1, 2010

Unfortunately, the coming years are likely to be filled with turmoil, the likes of which no American alive today has ever seen. No one knows the exact nature and timing of these trials, only that they will come. Decades of decadent overspending and living beyond our means at both the governmental and individual levels, on mountains of borrowed money, all while piling on layers of stifling, often unconstitutional regulation and largely unaccountable government bureaucracy, and the simultaneous multi-decade dumbing down of our education system, have made the coming crisis (or crises) inevitable. Add in the continued profligate spending by the government of money we don't have, the near certain passage of healthcare "reform" (i.e., the government takeover of one sixth of the economy) in some form, the possibility of cap-and-trade sneaking through, the likelihood of more bailouts of the Wall Street cabal and those too big or too unionized to fail, and you have the proverbial perfect storm for financial disaster.

Of course, self-inflicted financial disaster is only one subset of possible crises -- add in the potential for a government filled to the brim with individuals consumed with a seemingly limitless lust for power over others, and the very real makings of violent revolution, civil unrest, bloody civil war (is there any other kind?) ... choose whatever appellation for that bloodbath you wish ... looms ever closer.

I suspect the vast majority of Americans are unaware of how close we are to this fate. Those folks either simply haven't been paying attention, or are part of the problem themselves. Decades of collectivist imposition on our God given, and supposedly constitutionally protected, human rights have led us to this point, this precipice. Sadly, whether or not we fall off this precipice depends on whether our government can resist the urge to overreach, to stop piling on infringements to our fundamental human liberties. A frightening realization, given past history. Because if the American people end up at war with their government -- bloody, brutal, violent, killing war -- it will be because the government pushed one time too far, piled one infringement on human liberty too many. And enough Americans pushed back against such tyranny and oppression. Forcefully. And if it's one thing collectivists hate, it's the hoi polloi horning in on their precious (imagined, but near) monopoly of force. And as night follows day, what to many was once unthinkable, will follow.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the collectivists will look into the fearsome maw of armed citizens willing to fight, kill, and die ... and back off. Maybe. The history of government usurpation of powers not granted to them by the people doesn't exactly fill me with hope. Indeed, I have absolutely, positively no doubt that the collectivists would happily murder us all -- every last uppity citizen who won't go along peacefully with our own enslavement -- if the collectivists believed they could do so without risking (or losing) their own dammed lives. I suspect the only thing giving them pause is the likelihood of their own deaths. Time will tell how that calculus plays out.

Let us not, however, be so inward-focused that we forget the external crisis potentialities -- a nuclear-armed Iran, war in the Middle East (resulting in oil prices through the roof, followed shortly by everything else), another terrorist attack on US soil, perhaps larger and more successful than those of 9/11/2001. Will current DHS head Janet Napolitano again say the "system worked" then too, as she did in the case of the recent would-be airline passenger bomber (who was thwarted by fellow passengers and his own apparent ineptitude, not anything the government did)?

Or it might be something not on the radar. Perhaps China will attempt to repatriate Taiwan? Or a needy North Korea may decide to invade and plunder wealthy South Korea? With the image of weakness and submissiveness presented by our Marxist-in-Chief on his meet-and-greet foreign trips, can we really say these possibilities are all that far-fetched? Or maybe the catalyst will be something else that will catch us by surprise.

The world is, and remains, an increasingly dangerous place, despite a year of Hope and Change. Or, more likely, because of it.

As for us humble individuals, we prepare as best we can as our circumstances and resources permit, as we try to warn those friends and family who have not seen or prepared for the coming storm, or who, despite being otherwise intelligent individuals seem willfully blind to the impending disaster facing our nation. We can do no more, and are honor bound to do no less.

As we enter this uncertain time, this new year, take the time to thank the Lord for the many blessings He has bestowed upon us, and that we may be as worthy of them as our imperfect sinful selves will allow, and pray for His loving mercy. Happy New Year.